"What operates in 44 countries, has 2,276 stores outside of the U.S., has more than 100,000 associates (their term for worker) in Mexico alone and does $56.3 billion in sales overseas?"
Country Stores
Mexico 744
Puerto Rico 54
Canada 263
Argentina 11
Brazil 295
China 56
Germany 88
United Kingdom 315
South Korea 16
Costa Rica 10
El Salvador 57
Guatemala 120
Honduras 32
Nicaragua 30
Japan 15
Wal Mart's problem is 1. their website is not even close to user friendly and 2. Amazon's website is very user friendly and they actually have things people can purchase hassle free. #amazon
Where do you find that Walmart is still making money off of this?
From the WSJ article:
"Retailers traditionally pay half the list price for a hardcover book. Assuming that's the case with Wal-Mart, its $10 sale price on "Under the Dome" represents a 71% discount of the $35 cover price, which suggests the discounter will lose $7 to $7.50 on every copy it sells.
But imagine if the $10 could go directly to the author instead of whatever measly percentage I imagine goes there. Maybe the future isn't as dark and dank as everyone is expecting. #amazon
@dirtybacon: Yes and no - publishing houses do provide editors, and most books to benefit from their ministrations. That said, I can see a future where Amazon itself becomes a publisher, basically paying hired-gun editors to polish up user-submitted content. #amazon
I just approved my own comment, which was in grey (I was actually trying to edit a typo in a comment about, um, editors), even though I got my star (back?). I am a little confused. #amazon
I think a lot of people are complaining about the wrong thing.
What Walmart/Amazon are currently doing is not so much stealing money from the publishing industry (they have to pay a certain amount per book, which was already decided by the publishers), but setting a standard for low book prices which will hurt them later on. The publishers will make just as much money from the Sarah Palin book sales as they would have if Walmart sold the books for $30.
The people who will be hurt right now is the independent booksellers, and smaller book chains. #amazon
If they sell 60% of a publishers total sales they have the power to tell them exactly what they will pay for the books. Wal Mart wants precise costs from its suppliers so that they can put them on razor sharp margins and if they don't agree they cut them off and literally RUIN them overnight. #amazon
@UnderLoK: You're giving Walmart too much credit. They only sell so many books (variety not quantity) and it's not much at all in the long run. They mainly help popular books sell better, but they have to get popular before they get there, mostly. #amazon
@masshuum: 60% was more than likely extreme I agree and I did just pull that number out of my ass, but I don't doubt that they have the power to do what they always do. #amazon
@UnderLoK: Not being sold through Walmart will not harm any publishing company at all. I'm sure there are people who only buy books at Walmart (and also will refuse to purchase them anywhere else for whatever reason), but it's not a large portion of people. These people are not the target audience for most books (except, ironically, Sarah Palin's book).
Maybe it's different in the states, but here in Canada, Walmart does not have a very large book section (I think... it's been a while since I've been to one), and could not greatly affect the book industry one way or the other. #amazon
@psychiccheese: The US must be different, because most women I know that return from Target, Meijer, Wal Mart, or the like come home with a book. #amazon
Wait, haven't you been saying for the past two days that the Apple tablet will save publishing? And now it is doomed because nobody wants to read magazines on their handheld devices?
Oh, I see, you're only concerned with cheerleading for the iTunes and Amazon monopolies. Way to stick up for the consumer, there, guys.
@0xdeadbeef: It's because the device itself is important. The Kindle succeeds where others have failed because e-ink makes the difference. The tablet will presumptively have good features as well. The point is that the content folks think the device is unimportant. They are just like Verizon.
"[A digital store] where people could buy and manage their magazine subscriptions that would be delivered on "any" device."
Umm, do these guys have a clue what Hulu really is? A.) it's not (yet) a place where you buy or manage anything , and 2.) It does nooooot stream to "any" device. Heck, that's one of Hulu's biggest flaws *cough, Boxee, cough* But yeah, other than not being like Hulu at all, good luck with that.
Also, side note: it's good to know we're still treating Apple Tablet rumors as canon. *mumble* piece of crap device isn't even out yet, it's already one of the "Big Two" ereaders. *mumble grumble*
"Here's how it'd work: There'd be a new company running digital store where people could buy and manage their magazine subscriptions that would be delivered on "any" device."
I'm confused. Isn't this the definition of a paid subscription website? Wtf?
@Dallifornia: That's a stupid analogy. And you should be able to see it. If we're making the comparison, having a book is akin to walking into a store, buying a used 45 for six bucks, and it playing music for you the moment you pick it up. You don't need anything BUT the book. It's both content and transmitter at the same time. It's brilliant.
@Pope John Peeps II: "As soon as an iPod is a cheap as a cassette player AND cassette." Kindle is storage device for books. An iPod is a storage device for music. And with the content and transmitter, maybe I should have said a guitar? (Also sidenote: I like how often starred commenters promote dumb or incorrect comments so they can correct people). Maybe my comment was a dumb as comparing a book capable of carrying hundreds of books to one hardback book. Doubt it though.
@apollo89: Me too. It's pricey, and it seems easy to lose my books as files. I realize it's "greener" to use ebooks, but I love the feel and smell of paper in books and I'll probably stick with it for a while.
@Dallifornia: I'm not sure what you're reading and replying to, but it's clear you aren't actually reading all of the words that I'm writing.
The book is both pure information and platform, or medium, all in one. Your analogy - the guitar - is not. It is a pure platform, and you bring your own memorized content to it. The iPod is platform which needs content. The Kindle is platform which needs purchased content. The book is platform which comes with it's own, inseparable, pre-owned content. It's immutable, re-useable, there's no license required, it's portable, etc...
I think this is great, its kinda of a big F'You to the big publishers and lets the readers choose what they want to read. Nothing wrong with letting real humans decide, not publishers who care mostly about profits over all else.
@Jesustron: That's idiotic. Publishers care about profits, like every business. The way to profit in publishing is to spend most of your time giving people exactly what they want, and then every once in a while taking a risk on something that could be amazing. Either way, big name publishers have survived by putting out top-notch products written by great talents. If this guy moved from Kindle to press, it's because he was good, and his work got noticed by real editors.
Independent publishing will always be regarded as stupid and childish precisely because it removes all those layers and filters between the original product and the great stuff you read. Those filters that establish a baseline of talent in the writer, with editors who help cajole the story along.
When you go to press books, you're maybe looking into some murky water to find a diamond. With independent publishing, you're sifting through a pile of the worst, most wretched human waste to find that occasional diamond. Now which would YOU rather do?
The proof is in the product. Literally. It may be nice to say that big name publishers deaden the art, but that's probably because they just reject your cyborg-dragon galactic conquest trilogy with the words "we've seen this too much". Most independently published books are derivative, and silly. Most press books, while maybe not always being magnificent, are at least at a certain level of skill and refinement.
The new commenting system deleted my whole response. But basically, no one was saying that indie publishers don't have to sift though a lot of shit...My point was that a better variety of product can make it to the market though this new channel. A LOT of indie MUSIC is good, while most of it is shit, plenty of good stuff gets popular because people personally support artists. I think digital distribution gives writers this same freedom, which was difficult to break into before the internet and e readers/books.
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10/16/09
"What operates in 44 countries, has 2,276 stores outside of the U.S., has more than 100,000 associates (their term for worker) in Mexico alone and does $56.3 billion in sales overseas?"
[www.msnbc.msn.com]
Wal-Mart around the world:
Country Stores
Mexico 744
Puerto Rico 54
Canada 263
Argentina 11
Brazil 295
China 56
Germany 88
United Kingdom 315
South Korea 16
Costa Rica 10
El Salvador 57
Guatemala 120
Honduras 32
Nicaragua 30
Japan 15
10/16/09
10/16/09
From the WSJ article:
"Retailers traditionally pay half the list price for a hardcover book. Assuming that's the case with Wal-Mart, its $10 sale price on "Under the Dome" represents a 71% discount of the $35 cover price, which suggests the discounter will lose $7 to $7.50 on every copy it sells.
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
What Walmart/Amazon are currently doing is not so much stealing money from the publishing industry (they have to pay a certain amount per book, which was already decided by the publishers), but setting a standard for low book prices which will hurt them later on. The publishers will make just as much money from the Sarah Palin book sales as they would have if Walmart sold the books for $30.
The people who will be hurt right now is the independent booksellers, and smaller book chains. #amazon
10/16/09
If they sell 60% of a publishers total sales they have the power to tell them exactly what they will pay for the books. Wal Mart wants precise costs from its suppliers so that they can put them on razor sharp margins and if they don't agree they cut them off and literally RUIN them overnight. #amazon
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
Maybe it's different in the states, but here in Canada, Walmart does not have a very large book section (I think... it's been a while since I've been to one), and could not greatly affect the book industry one way or the other. #amazon
10/16/09
10/16/09
Amazon is fighting back. They just discounted all of their howling wolf shirts. #amazon
10/16/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
Oh, I see, you're only concerned with cheerleading for the iTunes and Amazon monopolies. Way to stick up for the consumer, there, guys.
10/02/09
10/02/09
Umm, do these guys have a clue what Hulu really is? A.) it's not (yet) a place where you buy or manage anything , and 2.) It does nooooot stream to "any" device. Heck, that's one of Hulu's biggest flaws *cough, Boxee, cough* But yeah, other than not being like Hulu at all, good luck with that.
Also, side note: it's good to know we're still treating Apple Tablet rumors as canon. *mumble* piece of crap device isn't even out yet, it's already one of the "Big Two" ereaders. *mumble grumble*
10/02/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
I'm confused. Isn't this the definition of a paid subscription website? Wtf?
07/11/09
07/11/09
Wait, whut?
07/11/09
07/11/09
07/11/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
The book is both pure information and platform, or medium, all in one. Your analogy - the guitar - is not. It is a pure platform, and you bring your own memorized content to it. The iPod is platform which needs content. The Kindle is platform which needs purchased content. The book is platform which comes with it's own, inseparable, pre-owned content. It's immutable, re-useable, there's no license required, it's portable, etc...
It's basically perfect right now
07/11/09
07/11/09
Independent publishing will always be regarded as stupid and childish precisely because it removes all those layers and filters between the original product and the great stuff you read. Those filters that establish a baseline of talent in the writer, with editors who help cajole the story along.
When you go to press books, you're maybe looking into some murky water to find a diamond. With independent publishing, you're sifting through a pile of the worst, most wretched human waste to find that occasional diamond. Now which would YOU rather do?
The proof is in the product. Literally. It may be nice to say that big name publishers deaden the art, but that's probably because they just reject your cyborg-dragon galactic conquest trilogy with the words "we've seen this too much". Most independently published books are derivative, and silly. Most press books, while maybe not always being magnificent, are at least at a certain level of skill and refinement.
07/11/09
The new commenting system deleted my whole response. But basically, no one was saying that indie publishers don't have to sift though a lot of shit...My point was that a better variety of product can make it to the market though this new channel. A LOT of indie MUSIC is good, while most of it is shit, plenty of good stuff gets popular because people personally support artists. I think digital distribution gives writers this same freedom, which was difficult to break into before the internet and e readers/books.